James Wiseman rebounds with big game for Warriors - San Francisco Chronicle

If you walk into a dark alley wearing diamond jewelry, you expect the kind of beating James Wiseman got Wednesday night.

Three minutes into the third quarter of the Warriors’ 121-99 win over the San Antonio Spurs, Wiseman outfought Dejounte Murray for rebounding position, grabbed the rebound of Draymond Green’s missed corner 3, twirled around Murray like a ballet star and threw down a big-time dunk.

Timeout Spurs, and as Wiseman strolled to the Warriors’ bench, he was attacked and beaten to a pulp by his teammates.

Apparently the Warriors liked what they were seeing in their rookie center.

“Man, oh, man, that dude’s good,” said Andrew Wiggins, who took part in the feeding frenzy of alley-oops to Wiseman.

Wiseman, coming off a crummy game against the Lakers, dunked himself silly, mostly off alley-oop lobs, and looked like what he has a chance to become: one of the best Warriors centers ever, one of the best high-school-to-NBA rookie centers ever (albeit with a quick college stop), and a key to the revival of the Warriors’ dynasty.

Seventeen games removed from lacing ’em up for the East High School Mustangs in Memphis, Wiseman got himself 20 points, six rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes. That was against a playoff-quality team coached by a man who can make adjustments.

The idea going into the season was that the Warriors would work with their No. 2 overall draft pick, develop him, school him and elevate his game.

Wednesday, it worked the other way around: Wiseman elevated the Warriors’ game. Stephen Curry and Green, no dummies, have figured out that if they can prod Wiseman into playing with full energy and awareness, he makes everyone else better.

Curry, routinely trapped and doubled behind the arc, simply winds his way to the hoop, where he is picked up by the opponent’s big guys. Guess who is suddenly open for a wide-open rim pass. Young James.

Green, similarly, has begun attacking the hoop with increased frequency and vigor, knowing he doesn’t have to finish — he’s got a guy for that job.

The Warriors’ starting lineup has become the Oop Troop.

Wiseman’s better than expected start has the Warriors’ PR crew scrambling for comparisons. This is what they dug up: Thirteen centers/power forwards jumped straight from high school to the NBA, going back to the ’70s.

They were all either 18 or 19 when they broke in, except for Amar’e Stoudamire, who was 20.

Going into Wednesday, Wiseman, who played three college games, was averaging 10.7 points and 6.0 rebounds. The only others on the list who were that productive as rookies were Stoudamire (13.5 and 8.8), Dwight Howard (12.0 and 10.0) and Kevin Garnett (10.4 and 6.4).

That’s lofty company. And more impressive considering that all those other guys had way more experience coming in. Wiseman did play three games of college ball, but had no training camp, no preseason games and only three team practices before he became an NBA starter.

Will Wiseman develop into a Kevin Garnett- or Dwight Howard-level superstar? Well, he’s got a ways to go, but when you look for things that might stop him from getting there, you gaze around like you’re looking for a bus that’s not coming.

The physical tools are obvious: size, speed, quickness, jumping ability. More importantly, considering that very few 7-footers (he’s 7-1) develop into NBA superstars, are the intangibles.

He works hard physically, works hard at learning and studying the game, pays attention, asks questions and seems to believe he belongs. By appearances, he doesn’t have an entitled bone in his body.

He works well in the offense. Green got an early 3-pointer off a nice screen by Wiseman at the top of the key, where he is becoming an Andrew Bogut-like screener and — Wednesday at least — distributor.

A minute later Wiseman and Green ran a classic pick-and-roll, Wiseman feeding Green for a 15-8 Warriors’ lead.

Wiseman is learning a lot from Green. Against the Lakers, Green pulled Wiseman aside and told him to never, ever not see the ball on offense, because if he works to get open, Green and other Warriors will find him. He seems to be learning that lesson.

“I study a lot of film every day,” Wiseman said after the game, “just figuring out floor spacing, and floor spacing is something I got better at a lot in this game.”

A small thing, but in the postgame Zoom interview, Wiseman answered questions using the reporters’ first names, even though with the COVID rules, he hasn’t really been around those guys.

He’s learning at a Phi Beta Kappa level, and he just might help the Warriors go somewhere this season — if they don’t beat him up every night.

Scott Ostler is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sostler@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @scottostler

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https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/ostler/article/James-Wiseman-rebounds-with-big-game-for-Warriors-15886571.php

2021-01-21 06:20:10Z
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